A planetary science study published in "Nature Astronomy" on the 14th pointed out that a re-analysis of the Cassini mission data showed that the gas plume released by Saturn's moon Enceladus contains molecules such as methanol, ethane and oxygen. The Cassini spacecraft first discovered large plumes of material escaping into space from Enceladus's southern hemisphere in 2005.
The plumes appear to come from underground oceans beneath cracks in the moon's ice surface. Analysis of Cassini's Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) data collected during two flybys in 2011 and 2012 determined the presence of water, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia and molecular hydrogen in the samples.
This time, the Harvard University research team re-examined the data processed by the INMS equipment team and compared it with a large library of known mass spectra. Using statistical analysis techniques to analyze billions of possible components of the plume material, they found that the most likely components were five already identified molecules and the newly identified hydrocarbons hydrogen cyanide, acetylene, propylene and ethane, as well as alcohols (methanol) and molecular oxygen.
The team believes that this diverse "chemical warehouse" beneath the surface of Enceladus may be suitable for a habitable environment or may support microbial communities. But the researchers stress that the ability of these compounds to support life on Enceladus depends largely on how dilute they are in the subsurface ocean.